CAMPAIGN WISDOM FROM JAGMEET SINGH

Be everywhere: In the few days Singh spent in Calgary during the provincial election, he tried to be everywhere. He did interviews with South Asian community radio and television stations, visited the Gurdwara, which is where Sikhs go to worship, met a field hockey team, which is a popular sport in the South Asian community, and even guest taught a lecture on Gurmukhi, a written form of the Punjabi language. Aim to help newcomers: Showing up is not enough, though, and that is where Singh believes his party could have an advantage over the Conservatives. “They show up a lot. I give them credit, but they don’t have a lot of policies that are really helpful to new Canadians,” Singh argued. Anne McGrath, the national director of the federal NDP, says her party’s support for small businesses, its ideas for job creation, its plan to bring in a federal minimum wage and approach to immigration issues form part of its pitch to newcomers and ethnic communities. Be yourself: Singh is a popular politician with a strong personality whose appeal reaches beyond the Ontario NDP. His faith, his criticism of India for its treatment of minorities, his advocacy on the high-profile issue of police carding and even his unusually hip fashion sense, proudly displayed on his popular Instagram profile, have all helped him build relationships among young and South Asian voters. Not only was he their “in” to that community, says NDP organizer DJ Kohli, but his presence helped people feel more comfortable supporting the local candidate, too.